Watching his son Xie Zhi run out the door, Xie Jianwen still felt a bit dazed.
What just happened?
He picked up the issue of Youth Daily that his son had just been reading. After reading for about ten minutes, he finally understood the article.
"Life is finite, but knowledge is infinite." This line wasn't as simple as it appeared. It was a deeper metaphor for what the article was really critiquing, cram-style education. Although 'A Classroom Anecdote' didn't directly name the term, it implied it through a striking metaphor: just like ducks being force-fed high-sugar feed to fatten them quickly, today's education system functions through one-sided, force-fed teaching.
As a graduate of a teachers' college, Xie Jianwen had always been concerned about Huaguo's education system. He'd had a vague sense that the current model was flawed, but as a student back then, he hadn't done any deep research. Later, he didn't go into education, and so paid less attention to teaching methods. He never expected that 'A Classroom Anecdote' would so sharply label the current system as "cram-style."
The term was incredibly apt.
Wasn't today's system exactly like that, cram-style education?
He nodded inwardly, but then his heart skipped a beat. He was a parent now, and his own child was going through this exact system. Before, he hadn't thought much about it, but now that he understood the metaphor, the thought of his son being fed knowledge like a duck filled him with deep concern.
Even if a student crammed in tons of information this way, what good did it do?
He immediately picked up the phone and called Youth Daily's editorial office, expressing interest in the article and concern about the education system. He also urged them to invite more scholars and experts to explore new paths for education reform in Huaguo.
That was a polite and formal suggestion. But the reality was, Xie Jianwen wasn't the only subscriber. There were millions across the country, students, parents, and more. Many of these parents didn't have his level of education. Some had only finished high school, some only junior high, and some had barely completed primary school, or not even that. When they read 'A Classroom Anecdote', many were outright furious.
Not because the piece was bad, but because it struck a nerve. They suddenly realized how badly the current education system had failed.
And they began to wonder: was it right or wrong to send their children into a system like this?
Phones rang off the hook at education departments across the country.
Some parents called their children's schools, angrily accusing teachers of being unqualified and just reciting from textbooks.
Others called the local education bureaus, demanding reforms to cram-style education. Some even went as far as calling the Ministry of Education to denounce the entire teaching model and blame it for ruining countless students.
Overnight, Youth Daily went viral. So did 'A Classroom Anecdote'.
But the hottest topic of all was the nationwide concern over the country's education model.
…
Feilong Forum.
Huang Yifan's new poem 'Seven Killings' once again set Feilong ablaze.
Just like his earlier poems, 'The Song of a Man' and 'The World Slanders Me', 'Seven Killings' exploded onto the trending list the moment it was posted.
"I bow down. Compared to White Boss poetry, I couldn't catch up if I tried."
"That guy, 'Bird of Paradise' had it coming. He called it doggerel. Could he write a poem with this kind of murderous energy?"
"Poetry, my ass. That guy's a turncoat. He started with Lianheng, jumped ship to Lingdian, and now that Lingdian is struggling, he immediately fled to Huanyue. How does a guy like that have the right to criticize anyone?"
"This is all just attention-seeking. White Boss pushed out 100.000 words for his readers until he literally got sick. Now he's recovering, and this guy shows up to trash him. What the hell did White Boss ever do to him?"
"Exactly. This guy's reputation has always been trash. Not only did he attack White Boss, but he went after a bunch of new authors. He even told them to "train for three years before writing," like he'd been training for decades himself."
"Sure, I'm not a fan of noob-style writing either, but if readers like it, that proves there's a market. Bird of Paradise is just a jerk."
"White Boss's 'Seven Killings' was incredible. Kill kill kill kill kill, cut down that disloyal, dishonorable, foolish, and heartless man in one stroke."
It was strange: after 'Seven Killings' was posted, the Feilong user base overwhelmingly sided with Huang Yifan.
But this wasn't just about Huang Yifan.
Yes, the poem was excellent. But timing was key. Although the noob-style trend had gained momentum thanks to 'How a Bad Guy Is Made', it hadn't lifted the entire genre. People only liked 'Bad Guy'. Other noob-style works were mediocre or flat-out bad, and many writers had begun criticizing the trend.
Unfortunately, Bird of Paradise was the wrong person to make that case. If he had offered a detailed critique, people might have supported him. But he went straight for the jugular, attacking The Number One White Under Heaven by name, assuming that would be enough to bury the genre.
What he didn't realize was that randomly bashing other authors, especially one as beloved as White Boss, was disgraceful. Even more so since Bird of Paradise was a somewhat well-known author himself.
If that were the whole story, people might have brushed it off. Not everyone liked White Boss anyway, and he had clashed with some users before. Some might have even enjoyed watching the drama. They wouldn't have jumped in to defend White Boss just for being insulted.
But 'Seven Killings' changed everything.
That one poem galvanized the entire crowd.
The line "to the disloyal, dishonorable, heartless, and foolish" was enough to make anyone want to see Bird of Paradise destroyed.
But it didn't end there.
After Huang Yifan's poem publicly annihilated his reputation, Bird of Paradise reappeared.
He was fuming.
He didn't even have a grudge against White Boss. The whole thing started because an editor from Huanyue had said in the group chat, "Go flame Lingdian on Feilong and criticize noob-style writing." Having just joined Huanyue, Bird of Paradise rushed to prove his loyalty and jumped into the forum using an alt to bash White Boss.
He thought White Boss had disappeared after 'Bad Guy' went on hiatus, and assumed Feilong users didn't care much about him anymore. Even if he said nasty things, it wouldn't stir up any waves.
What he didn't expect was for White Boss to see it and strike back with a killing poem that publicly humiliated him.
Unbearable.
So Bird of Paradise made a new post.
"Fine, White Boss, so you wrote a decent little poem. But while your doggerel is okay, your noob-style novels are still going nowhere. Just look at your so-called disciples, what garbage they're writing. Honestly, your stuff has nothing to do with me, but since you claim noob-style has a future, shouldn't you be responsible for that future? Shouldn't you take responsibility for the new writers you've led astray? But all I see is those new authors burning out and giving up on writing."
"Also, didn't you say you wanted to kill me?"
"I'll give you the chance. I'm with Huanyue now. If you've got the guts, come to Huanyue and PK me."
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